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Full-Text Articles in Health Policy
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Health Financing And Family Planning In The Context Of Universal Health Care: Connecting The Discourse, Gabrielle Appleford, Saumya Ramarao
Reproductive Health
Financing is a major challenge and concern for the future of family planning (FP) programs. As countries commit to increasing access to and quality of FP services and to universal health care (UHC), it is crucial that UHC schemes include FP and other reproductive health services. While the importance of financing is recognized in relation to quality, the “how” of financing FP within the context of UHC is not well understood. This brief targets the “bridge” constituency that is coalescing between the health financing and FP communities of practice around a shared interest in making access to health services universal. …
Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows
Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows
Reproductive Health
Increasing efficient and effective investment in family planning (FP) through the public and private sectors is key to meeting the FP2020 goal of helping 120 million additional women become modern contraceptive users. This policy brief identifies several policy and program considerations to ensure adequate financing of family planning commodities and services: sustained fundraising, pooling, and strategic purchasing; reaching new users and improving continuation rates among current users; and conducting further research on family planning quality performance metrics to test their correlation with higher continuation rates. Future efforts to reduce unmet need for FP must consider consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, programmatic cost-effectiveness, …
Strengthening The Integration Of Family Planning And Hiv Services At The Community Level In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Sara Chace Dwyer, Brian Mdawida, Charlotte E. Warren, Melsa Lutomia, Jane Koech, Elizabeth Washika, Aparna Jain
Strengthening The Integration Of Family Planning And Hiv Services At The Community Level In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Sara Chace Dwyer, Brian Mdawida, Charlotte E. Warren, Melsa Lutomia, Jane Koech, Elizabeth Washika, Aparna Jain
Reproductive Health
Study findings reveal that many Kenyan women living with HIV are comfortable receiving family planning (FP) services from community health volunteers and with proper training and support, community health volunteers have the potential to provide integrated FP/HIV services. Community-based integrated FP/HIV services could help connect women living with HIV who want to prevent or postpone a pregnancy to contraceptive services, which can reduce unintended pregnancies and in turn maternal mortality and vertical transmission of HIV. This implementation research study offers evidence of the feasibility, quality of care, and acceptability of using community health volunteers to integrate family planning into HIV/AIDS …
Partnering With The Private Sector To Strengthen Provision Of Contraception, Karen Hardee, David Wofford, Nandita Thatte
Partnering With The Private Sector To Strengthen Provision Of Contraception, Karen Hardee, David Wofford, Nandita Thatte
Reproductive Health
Family planning is most successful when clients have a variety of methods to choose from and a variety of service delivery sites from which to obtain them. The private sector plays a critical role in family planning and can contribute to a total market approach to providing contraceptives. Among private sector service options, social marketing, social franchising, and pharmacies and drug shops most readily contribute to sustainable markets for contraceptive services. Corporate sector workplace programs also show promise for reaching millions of women. This evidence brief outlines a number of policy and program considerations for countries as they move toward …
Utilization Of National Health Insurance For Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services By The Urban Poor In Uttar Pradesh, India, Arupendra Mozumdar, Kumudha Aruldas, Aparna Jain, Laura Reichenbach, Robin Keeley, M.E. Khan
Utilization Of National Health Insurance For Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services By The Urban Poor In Uttar Pradesh, India, Arupendra Mozumdar, Kumudha Aruldas, Aparna Jain, Laura Reichenbach, Robin Keeley, M.E. Khan
Reproductive Health
In 2008, the Government of India launched the National Health Insurance Scheme, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), to enable families living below the poverty line in both urban and rural areas to access a range of private health services. The available evidence suggests several limitations and barriers that may affect the utilization of RSBY services and warrants a more in-depth examination of the contexts of family planning/reproductive health (FP/RH) services. The Population Council, under the Evidence project, conducted a study among the urban poor to: 1) determine RSBY awareness and barriers to enrollment; 2) identify barriers and facilitating factors to …
Evaluation De La Mise En Oeuvre Et Des Réalisations De L’Approche 3d Au Sein Du Plan D’Action National De Planification Familiale (Panpf) Au Sénégal—Technical Brief, Population Council
Evaluation De La Mise En Oeuvre Et Des Réalisations De L’Approche 3d Au Sein Du Plan D’Action National De Planification Familiale (Panpf) Au Sénégal—Technical Brief, Population Council
Reproductive Health
Leader dans le domaine de la Planification Familiale (PF) en Afrique de l’Ouest francophone, le Sénégal a entrepris diverses initiatives pour atteindre ses objectifs, dont l’élaboration du Plan d’Action National de Planification Familiale (PANPF) 2012–15, basé sur l’Approche 3D (Démocratisation, Démédicalisation, Décentralisation). Au moment où il arrivait à terme, et que l’élaboration d’un nouveau plan était envisagée, il était nécessaire de documenter l’approche, sa mise en œuvre, et ses réalisations. Le Population Council a mené cette étude en collaboration avec la Direction de la Santé de la Reproduction et de la Survie de l’Enfant du Ministère de la Santé et …
Utilization Of National Health Insurance For Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services By The Urban Poor In Uttar Pradesh, India, The Evidence Project
Utilization Of National Health Insurance For Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services By The Urban Poor In Uttar Pradesh, India, The Evidence Project
Reproductive Health
In 2008, the Government of India launched the National Health Insurance program, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), to enable families living below the poverty line in urban and rural areas to access a range of private health services. Enrolled families can access packages of services from RSBY-participating private hospitals, including family planning (FP) and other reproductive health (RH) services. Despite the availability of insurance coverage, poor families’ utilization of RSBY for FP/RH services is believed to be negligible. The Evidence Project is conducting a study in three cities in Uttar Pradesh to better understand the factors affecting utilization of RSBY …
Research Gaps In Scale Up Of Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programming, The Evidence Project, E2a, Hpp, Measure Evaluation
Research Gaps In Scale Up Of Family Planning And Reproductive Health Programming, The Evidence Project, E2a, Hpp, Measure Evaluation
Reproductive Health
The Evidence Project, in collaboration with the Evidence to Action Project, the Health Policy Project, and MEASURE Evaluation convened a meeting to discuss research gaps related to scale-up. The meeting was held at the request of USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health (OPRH) to help guide their research strategy. The meeting had four objectives: discuss scale-up experiences and the role of research and monitoring for strengthening program performance at scale; identify research gaps related to scale-up; prioritize the scale-up research gaps for OPRH; identify next steps for addressing these priority research gaps. This meeting generated a rich discussion about …
Policy Brief—Mainstreaming Emergency Contraception In Developing Countries: A Toolkit For Policymakers And Service Providers, Wilson Liambila, Saumya Ramarao, Joyce Wanderi Maina, Mary W. Gathitu
Policy Brief—Mainstreaming Emergency Contraception In Developing Countries: A Toolkit For Policymakers And Service Providers, Wilson Liambila, Saumya Ramarao, Joyce Wanderi Maina, Mary W. Gathitu
Reproductive Health
Kenyan Ministry of Health (MOH), the Population Council, and Population Services International (PSI) launched an initiative to mainstream emergency contraception (EC) in Kenya. The specific objectives of the initiative were to: increase knowledge, awareness, and use of EC among Kenyan women; increase knowledge and awareness of EC among health providers; and strengthen EC provision in both the private and public sectors. This policy brief describes a toolkit designed for policymakers and service providers which draws on the achievements, lessons learned, and experiences from this project.
Repositioning Community-Based Family Planning In Ghana: A Case Study Of Community-Based Health Planning And Services (Chps), Stephen Ntsua, Placide Tapsoba, Gloria Quansah Asare, Frank K. Nyonator
Repositioning Community-Based Family Planning In Ghana: A Case Study Of Community-Based Health Planning And Services (Chps), Stephen Ntsua, Placide Tapsoba, Gloria Quansah Asare, Frank K. Nyonator
Reproductive Health
The Population Council conducted a diagnostic appraisal of delivering family planning services using the community-based health planning and services (CHPS model) in Ghana. This study’s results indicate that the CHPS program is well appreciated by rural communities where it is operational. However, the study identified several developments with implications for service delivery: increased community health officer (CHO) workloads and concomitant reductions in outreach services and home visits by community health visitors (CHVs) have weakened the CHO-CHV working relationship, leaving both cadres working in isolation. CHPS has significantly improved health indices but its contribution to increasing family planning is limited and …
Linking Hiv-Positive Family Planning Clients To Treatment And Care Services In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Ruth Wayua Muia, Joyce Wanderi Maina, Mary N. Maina, Christine Awuor, Ibrahim Mohammed
Linking Hiv-Positive Family Planning Clients To Treatment And Care Services In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Ruth Wayua Muia, Joyce Wanderi Maina, Mary N. Maina, Christine Awuor, Ibrahim Mohammed
Reproductive Health
A project from the Population Council’s USAID-funded FRONTIERS program found that integrating HIV counseling and testing into family planning (FP) services was feasible and acceptable to clients and providers, and led to significant improvement in the quality of care provided. However, a major limitation was that FP clients who tested HIV-positive were not actively linked to care and treatment services, including antiretroviral treatment, and screening and management of sexually transmitted infections. A new initiative aimed to design and test a referral framework for linking HIV-positive FP clients to treatment and care in selected health facilities; assess the acceptability of the …
Increasing Postpartum Contraception In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council
Increasing Postpartum Contraception In Rural Uttar Pradesh: Implications For Behavior Change Communication, Population Council
Reproductive Health
The Population Council conducted a formative study in rural Uttar Pradesh, India to assess the level of adoption of postpartum contraception for spacing among low parity women, identify the facilitating factors and barriers to the adoption of this target behavior, and identify programmatic and behavior change communications (BCC) initiatives that could accelerate the adoption of postpartum contraception for spacing and improve the service delivery system, if required, to facilitate the process. Barriers included low awareness of consequences of closely spaced births, misconceptions about contraceptive methods, lack of counseling by health workers, reluctance to include husbands, and programmatic emphasis on limiting …
The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur
The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur
Poverty, Gender, and Youth
This report presents the child mortality impact of a trial of primary health-care service-delivery strategies in rural Ghana. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, under-five mortality in areas with village-based community-nurse services fell by 16 percent during the five years of program implementation compared with mortality before the intervention. Reductions were observed in infant (6 percent), early child (20 percent), and late child (41 percent) mortality. Community involvement and training of a local health volunteer were associated with an 11 percent increase in mortality, primarily driven by a 124 percent increase in early child mortality. Areas with both nurses and volunteers …
Review Of Field Experiences: Integration Of Family Planning And Pmtct Services, Naomi Rutenberg, Carolyn Baek
Review Of Field Experiences: Integration Of Family Planning And Pmtct Services, Naomi Rutenberg, Carolyn Baek
HIV and AIDS
The Population Council and its research partners have been addressing several key questions about prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services and how well they function in field settings. The World Health Organization asked the Population Council to provide a review of field experiences regarding the integration of family planning and PMTCT services. This report provides conclusions and recommendations as input into a WHO/UNFPA-sponsored consultative meeting on "The linkages between reproductive health and HIV/AIDS: Family planning and prevention of mother-to-child transmission."
Reproductive Health Services In Kwazulu Natal, South Africa: A Situation Analysis Study Focusing On Hiv/Aids Services, Lewis Ndhlovu, Catherine Searle, Robert A. Miller, Andrew A. Fisher, Ester Snyman, Nancy L. Sloan
Reproductive Health Services In Kwazulu Natal, South Africa: A Situation Analysis Study Focusing On Hiv/Aids Services, Lewis Ndhlovu, Catherine Searle, Robert A. Miller, Andrew A. Fisher, Ester Snyman, Nancy L. Sloan
HIV and AIDS
This Horizons report examines the readiness of reproductive health services in South Africa, which are primarily geared to women, to deliver HIV and AIDS treatment, care, and prevention services. The goal of the study was to obtain information from a representative sample of provincial health care facilities offering reproductive health services in KwaZulu Natal to meet the growing demand for HIV/AIDS-related services. Ninety-eight hospitals, community health centers, and clinics participated in the situation analysis that identified gaps in service delivery and determined priorities for service integration. Results of the study were presented to a large audience of Department of Health, …
Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: Report Of Wave I, Naomi Rutenberg, Cathrien Kehus-Alons, Lisanne Brown, Kate Macintyre, Anthea Dallimore, Carol E. Kaufman
Transitions To Adulthood In The Context Of Aids In South Africa: Report Of Wave I, Naomi Rutenberg, Cathrien Kehus-Alons, Lisanne Brown, Kate Macintyre, Anthea Dallimore, Carol E. Kaufman
HIV and AIDS
This is a prospective study of reproductive behavior and sexual health of adolescents in South Africa as well as their education and employment experiences, family and environmental conditions, and other factors in their lives that may influence their sexual behavior and choices. This report is designed to inform educators, policymakers, and the public in South Africa and beyond of the initial findings of the study, with the ultimate goal of helping to design and refine policies and programs that will improve opportunities and capacities of adolescents and may contribute to changing behaviors and choices. The report focuses on describing the …